Retired army captain fights to reclaim land in Rajasthan following alleged fraud | Jaipur News

Jaisalmer: In a distressing twist for a war veteran, 92-year-old retired Indian Army Captain Chunni Lal Thakur, who fought in three major wars for the country, is now waging a determined fight to reclaim his agricultural land after allegedly falling victim to fraud in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.Capt Thakur, a resident of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district who fought in the 1962 Sino-Indian War as well as the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, has accused unknown individuals of fraudulently registering his 25-bigha agricultural land in the Indira Gandhi Canal command area near Mohangarh. He claims that the land was transferred to another person using forged documents, without his knowledge or consent.The alarming details of the case reveal that the land was registered under a different name on June 16, and the mutation process was completed just 10 days later, while the genuine owner was not present. Capt Thakur, originally allotted the Jaisalmer land through a govt rehabilitation scheme after his ancestral land was acquired for the construction of the Pong Dam, relied on local farmers for cultivation and received his share of the harvest.The shocking revelation of the land’s illicit sale came from his cultivator, prompting Capt Thakur to travel to Jaisalmer to seek justice. However, his initial attempts to file a complaint were met with resistance, as local police allegedly did not register an FIR despite his repeated pleas.After a meeting with Jaisalmer Superintendent of Police Abhishek Shivhare, the matter received newfound attention, leading to the registration of an FIR under fraud-related sections. The ongoing investigation now aims to uncover the identity of those involved in the alleged forgery, which included manipulated identity documents.Family members have voiced concerns over the ease with which the fraudulent registration was executed, questioning the lack of verification measures in place, such as fingerprint checks. Captain Thakur’s son, Multan Singh Thakur, expressed disbelief that such a significant procedural lapse could occur.The issue may point to a broader pattern of land scams targeting displaced families from the Pong Dam project and retired servicemen, as suggested by locals. Retired Air Force Sergeant Lalaram, in charge of the Soldiers’ Rest House, alleged that a broader network existed targeting displaced families from the Pong Dam region and retired servicemen — individuals often unfamiliar with the local administrative system and thus more susceptible to exploitation by land brokers. Investigations are currently ongoing, with hopes that this decorated war hero will finally achieve justice and reclaim his rightful land.